Sonic Mars Adventure
by SJ777
Summary: Most thought Maria was gone. But a recording discovered at the bottom of the sea proves otherwise. The trail leads our heroes to, of all places, the planet Mars! But all is not well on the red planet...
1. Out from the depths

Out of the static on the TV screen came an image of a man in the lab coat of a scientist facing the viewer, apparently adjusting the camera. The interference clears, and the scientist steps back. "I hope this works…" he says.

The scientist is a middle-aged human, tall with black and short but very thick hair. His coat looks stained and torn, as if damaged in a fight. He goes over to a console and presses some buttons. He speaks to the camera as he does so.

"My name… it's not important. To whoever sees this, this is the only thing that matters."

After hitting a last switch, a cryo-freeze canister opens, revealing a young, wounded girl.

"This…" the scientist goes on, "Is Maria. Gerald thinks she is dead; I wish I could tell him otherwise but our contact has been severed. She just saved Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form, at the cost of her own life, and now I think she deserves the same from me."

Shouts and gunfire are heard in the background. The screen shakes, but the scientist continues on, pressing more buttons.

"They're coming now, the ones who think everyone and everything is a threat when the only real threat is themselves. They want me, Maria and everyone else here dead; I'm going to deny them one of those things."

The capsule cover closes, and the chamber starts to move.

"This is my experimental cryo-capsule, designed as an escape pod for deep-space exploration vessels. It hasn't been fully approved, but it should still work perfectly. I am using this to get Maria out of here before…" an explosion rocks the screen, and more gunfire is heard. "They come."

"After Maria is clear of the station, I will eject this recording into a black box in Earth orbit, on course to come down in around 30 years. Hopefully the capsule will last at least that long…"

"I don't know who will find this, and I don't really care… as long as they will try to find Maria. Shadow, the Ultimate Life-Form… I know you love your sister, and if you are watching, you can find her. We designed you for anything. My own daughter… I know you have my noble intentions, please try… Anyone, please help…"

The noise becomes louder. More shouts and footsteps. "G.U.N…" the scientist says, as the capsule starts to launch… "If you ever see this, I hope you can redeem yourselves and rescue her, or just burn in hell…"

As the capsule launches into deep space, more explosions can be heard. The scientist he loads a pistol, then turns off the camera. The screen goes black.

The viewers of the recording stare in shock. A figure walks up behind them. "I thought you might want to see this…" he says.

The speaker is a male human teenager, wearing a white military shirt, blue pants with a well-stocked ammo belt and with dark, very thick hair. The ones he is speaking to are Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge, and of course Shadow.

"Maria…" says the dark hedgehog. "Y-you're alive…"

"You said you found this at the bottom of the sea?" asks Sonic.

"Yep," says the human. "An old Navy buddy of mine happened to come across it on a mineral research mission, and brought me over. I was the only one able to unlock the case…"

"But… if Maria's still alive-" starts Shadow

"Where is she?" finishes the human. "Well, it just so happens some trajectory coordinates were also in the ultra-tough case we found that in. I fed them into the computer, and by its calculations, the cryo-capsule containing Maria ended up on…"

The human brought up a holographic display, showing a map of the Solar System, which then zoomed in on a particular planet.

"…Mars. Of all places…"

"Well then, I guess we're off to Mars!" says Sonic excitedly.

"But how on earth are we going to get all the way to Mars?" asks Rouge. "I know there are rockets that go to and from the colonies, but they don't just let anyone on…"

"And you lot aren't just anyone." says the human. "Another old buddy of mine has a few openings on a cargo ship heading to the red planet tomorrow, I can rustle up some gear and we're all good to go."

"Really?" asks Amy. "We're going all the way to Mars tomorrow?"

"What'd I just say? Though the trip will take about a week, you guys have been in space before right?" They all nod. "Well, this'll be nothing like it. You might wanna pack some games and a king-sized lunch."

The human starts to walk out the room. "I'll catch up with you guys later when I get the rest of the gear, spacesuits and stuff. Be at the space centre off Central Highway tomorrow at one."

Sonic gets up. "Hey, I never caught your name?"

The human teenager stops in the doorway and looks back for a second. He smiles as he says "Call me Sabre." Then he walks out the room.

The others look at each other, then get up and leave as well. All except for Shadow, who stays behind to get the disc. The black hedgehog looks at the DVD for a second, and then closes his eyes. "Maria…" he says. "I'm on my way…"

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

Shadow disappears to parts unknown, but he'll be at the rocket launch tomorrow.


	2. Are we there yet?

_Disclaimer, since I forgot to put one on the previous page; I do not own Sonic or related characters. I do own Sabre, Wildkid belongs to Wildkid56, and Teepo is property of… Teepo S.T._

_Will there be romance, one reviewer asks? Well, maybe a bit of all the usual, but a few other things along those lines are also in the works…_

The rocket to Mars was within two hours of launching when Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrived.

Shadow was already there.

Half an hour later, Amy and Cream arrived.

Another half-hour later, Rouge showed up.

"Rouge?" said Shadow, surprised. "I don't remember you around when Sabre-"

"Oh, I have my ways of finding these things out." Rouge giggled. "And of course, keeping track of the Sabre is an interesting hobby…"

"You've heard of that guy?" asks Sonic.

"You mean you haven't?" said Rouge, surprised. "You don't read the newspapers very often, do you…?"

"What do you mean?" asked Amy.

"The Sabre shows up wherever there's trouble." said Rouge. "He's been spotted at wars, revolutions, coups, conspiracies and just about everything in between. They say he always fights for the oppressed and the weak, for those who can't fight back. And they also say he's a master of all weapons, an invincible warrior, and a ruthless killing machine if necessary. And he sure makes himself known among the girls…" Rouge broke off, giggling.

Knuckles crossed his arms. "How would you know…?" he asked.

"Oh, an old friend of mine once had an encounter with him. Quite the gentleman, apparently. She's never stopped talking about him ever since…"

"Right." said Knuckles. "By the way, where the heck is he now?"

Ten minutes before the rocket was due to launch, Sabre finally showed up. With him he had brought two friends. "Oh, hey guys!" he said to Sonic and his crew. "I don't think you've met my buddies here. This is Wildkid," he said, motioning to a green-furred Hedgebat with a gun almost as big as he was strapped to his back, who grinned in acknowledgement. "And this is Teepo." Sabre pointed to his other companion, a tall human clad in a black robe with long blue hair making it difficult to tell which gender he was.

"Oh, hey Sabre, hey Wildkid, hey Teepo!" said Sonic. "Uh… you are a boy, right?"

"Yes!" said Teepo indignantly.

"Don't mind my pal's dress sense, we'd better get on board." said Sabre.

"Two weeks!" shouted Rouge, dismayed.

"Hey, this is the fastest spaceship yet built, and we've got several million kilometres to travel." said the ship's pilot. "Two weeks is quite quick considering most rockets take a couple of months."

"But two weeks in this tin can with… this lot!" Normally the rocket would have only a pilot, navigator and engineer as crew, and was not designed for this many passengers. There were ample supplies for all of them, but it would be cramped.

"You wanna go to Mars or not?" said Sabre. "'Cause if you do, you should shut up and let us launch already."

It was a long and cramped two weeks, where all on board probably learned more about the Solar System, zero gravity, and each other's hygienic habits than they ever wanted to. At least everyone had their own distractions; Sonic spent most of the trip literally bouncing off the walls of the cargo hold, Tails studied the engines and technology, Knuckles exercised muttering worries about what the lack of gravity was doing to his physique, the girls talked, gossiped and spied on the boys, Wildkid slept, Teepo studied the stars, Sabre polished his weapons to the point he could win a battle with the glare from them and Shadow sat and meditated. It was little wonder Shadow felt most at home; he was created and raised in a space station; designed partly for space exploration and combat; and the infinite dark void of outer space seemed to suit his personality.

Most of the passengers, but Shadow in particular, noted how enigmatic the Sabre was. Even Wildkid and Teepo, his best friends, admitted they knew little about him. Sabre was a mystery, a wanderer on a journey with no start or end. He was hesitant to talk about his past, and often quickly changed the subject if it was brought up. Even Rouge, who found his mysterious nature, youth, good looks and dashing charm quite alluring, could not get the warrior to tell of his origin. Sabre brushed off her advances, making a point of this to Knuckles (who, meanwhile, had also struck up a friendship with Wildkid).

After two long, enlightening weeks stuck in the cargo ship, they finally touched down on Mars. The attendants at the cargo depot looked surprised to see almost a dozen extra passengers burst out of the hatch, rejoicing that they were in a space with enough room for them all to stand upright a respectable distance away from each other. The uniformed man standing near the ship, however, did not.

The man, a tall, brown-haired, military agent wearing rounded dark sunglasses, walked over to the group. Sabre recognised him.

"Hey, Agent Bingo!" said the warrior, waving.

"Hello, Sabre." said Agent Bingo. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we can remain on such pleasant terms…"

Before they could ask why, dozens of armed soldiers dropped out of nowhere and surrounded the group, guns raised.

"I'll have to ask exactly why you're here. Right now, Mars isn't exactly the best place to take a holiday."

_Wondering what's going on? You'll just have to wait and see… You know the drill, people! REVIEW! Anonymous reviews accepted._


	3. No smoking in the dome

_Disclaimer; don't own Sonic, believe we would all be better off if I did; fewer stupid plot holes and more original games, better gameplay and this would be a game._

_WARNING; contains gun violence, stylised combat, smoking (bad for your health and everyone else's, kids and teenagers) and my best attempt at slapstick humour. Goon hackey anyone?_

_See bottom for long rant on above subject which hopefully has a point. Smoking is bad, and I'm actually gonna say WHY._

"You often to seem to be the bearer of bad tidings…" said Sabre.

"Like you wouldn't believe." answered Bingo. "I'll ask you again; exactly what is your business here?"

Shadow butted in. "We're here to find Maria! And damned if I let any of you get in my way!"

"Cool it, Shadow." said Sabre. "A young girl in a cryo-capsule is somewhere on this planet, we need to find her. This is personal, Bingo. I'm sure you can understand."

"Well…" said Bingo. "All right, I guess you can-"

"That is not on our agenda." said one of the soldiers, in a cold, emotionless tone. "All unfamiliars are to be classified as potential enemies and detained, or terminated if necessary."

"But- captain, this is _Sonic_, and Sabre, only looking for someone-"

"So they tell us." interjects the soldier. "I remind you, you are only here as representation of G.U.N. I am in command here. This is my authority." he says, raising his gun.

Then Sonic steps forward. "Just hold on a minute here- I don't know what's going on and I don't really care, we just want to find a lost little girl who G.U.N," he motions to Bingo, "Once tried to kill over nothing but a crazy suspicion."

Sabre nodded in agreement. "You do have a lot to answer for."

"I know." says Bingo ruefully. "I'm not exactly proud of a lot of things my superiors have been up to, but I'm in too deep to quit. And I'm not in control here."

"Affirmative." says the soldier. "Now lay down your weapons and come peacefully."

"What, so you can get our names before you shoot us?" says Sabre. "I don't think so. I know how your kind operates. Whatever country, whatever planet, whatever cause, you gun-toting gorillas are all the same…"

"Sabre…" whispers Rouge. "I don't think this is a good idea…"

Sabre steps back and speaks quietly. "Oh no, it's a brilliant idea. Sonic, Shadow… when I make my move, go absolutely crazy…"

"Captain, I officially object to this…" says Bingo.

"Then you can go with them." says the captain. "Lay down your-"

Then Sabre charges out at the captain and knocks him off his feet while whipping out his laser pistol and activating his signature sky blue laser short sword with a white hilt embedded with a crystal the same colour as the blade. The other soldiers raise their guns, but are then knocked off their feet by two blurs, as Sonic and Shadow heed Sabre's orders and go berserk.

The rest of the Sonic Crew then spring into action, Tails with his gadgets and tail attacks, Knuckles with his fists and martial arts skills, Rouge with her agent training, Amy with her hammer, and Cream directing Cheese as he unleashes Chao wrath on the poor soldiers, Cream apologising to every downed foe. Wildkid blasts and whacks unfortunate soldiers with his Big $&!ing Gun while Teepo uses energy spears, swords and shields to cut down his attackers.

A few soldiers get up and prepare to fire their assault rifles but are then cut down by Bingo, firing his machine gun and signature nine-shot pistol, using considerable hand-to-hand combat skills against anyone who gets too close. But it is Sabre who truly is the star of this fight.

More than a few fighters are impressed by Sabre in battle. He slices the gun of one soldier while firing off a pistol shot at another, then kicks the poor soldier while continuing to shoot and deflecting shots with his sword. He then punches one soldier and then kicks him into another, then as another tries to get him from behind the warrior grabs him, flips the soldier over to knock out another, and grabs his machine gun to fire at several soldiers almost overpowering Amy, then uses the gun to club out two others. He does this all in about two seconds, fluidly, calmly, not even exerting himself. He has fought off much more dangerous and powerful foes.

Amy smashes away three soldiers with her hammer, into Rouge who kicks them away in a blur of motion. The three then fly towards Knuckles, who knocks them all away with one punch. They then collect two more soldiers and fly towards Sabre, who ducks as they just brush over his dark bushy hair and land in a cargo crate, the impact closing the door on them.

Within less than half a minute, the soldiers have all been disabled. Those not dead, unconscious or wounded elected to play possum to avoid further injury from these clearly superhuman demons from hell. Sabre seems to realise this, but says nothing, instead just gathering up their functioning weapons and instructing the rest to do the same, which they then dump into another empty crate and lock the lid.

The captain was originally taken down by Sabre's tackle at the beginning of the fray, and then was knocked unconscious by Cheese charging at him ("Sorry Mister Captain, sir!"). But after the gunshots ceased he started to come around, and woke to Bingo looking down at him looking not too happy.

The agent lifted up the captain by the neck of his combat suit while spinning his pistol in his other hand. "Looks like I have the authority now, insurgent. You ready to obey?" The soldier nodded. "Good. You can start by giving back my smokes. I know you have them, loser. In your right chest pocket, next to the letter from you mummy."

The soldier hastily grabbed the packet of cigarettes from his pocket. Bingo took them and threw the captain to the ground. As the agent got out a lighter, Sabre said "I've told you once and a thousand times…"

"Smoking's bad for my health, I know." said the agent as he lit up his cigarette. "But believe me, right now on this planet, lung cancer's going to be the least of your problems."

_Agent Bingo; old-fashioned, sunnies-wearing, customised pistol-toting superspy hero with a few disagreements with his employers. I just love this guy._

_But that has nothing to do with is very occasional (usually when highly stressed) smoking; I cannot stress enough, smoking is BAD. It is a filthy, disgusting, highly unhealthy drug habit that involves setting on fire bundles of hundreds of unidentified, noxious, caustic and poisonous chemicals and inhaling the smoke. It is also dangerous; unfathomable numbers of fires are caused by cigarettes every year, and this is likely to increase highly as new cigarettes contain Avgas which makes them highly difficult to put out, which can only result in terrible accidents. It takes only one spark to burn down a city. I know, I pestered my dad for years to give up and he eventually did._

_I could go on for pages, but I think that should be enough. If you are stupid enough to smoke, you deserve to die. Just smoke away from people who don't. Only old-fashioned people are allowed to smoke, from back when it was perfectly acceptable and nobody really knew the risks (except the Nazis, oddly enough, but well; go figure). To be honest, I got the idea from Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid (neither of which I own, just to be sure). Yeah, I know…_

_Read and Review people! Reviews are the sustenance of life for all novelists and writers of all ages, cultures and walks of life! We all want our writings to be read, and like to know what people think of them!_

_And don't- shot_

_Bingo: They get the point already!_


	4. Grand Theft Mars Auto

_Don't own Sonic etc, Sabre and Bingo are mine; Mars is currently nobody's property._

Bingo explained the situation while Sonic, Sabre and the rest listened while putting on their colour-coded Mars suits.

"Basically, it's a free-for-all revolution with the prize being the entire planet, and its moons. It started with a lot of people sick of the colonial rule- can't blame them, really- and now there's several groups who all want the planet for themselves. The goons we just beat belonged to the Ares League. I was sent by G.U.N. when things first started to get dangerous."

"Let me guess," ventured Sabre. "The government pencil-pushers want things exactly back to how they were, no rebellion, no independent Mars, no problems with relations and labour unions and such. So they sent you in, hoping you would do your one-man-army thing just for them."

"Bingo," said Bingo, smiling. "Too bad I only do my one-man-army thing when ordered specifically **not **to, eh?"

Sabre laughed. "You haven't changed a bit."

Shadow, having finished putting on his suit his only the helmet to go, walked up. "But this revolution… it's none of our business, really. I only came here to find Maria."

"Hey, wherever there's oppression, fear, ignorance and despair, it's my business to come and get rid of it all!" said Sabre.

"Same here!" said Sonic. "Didn't Maria herself say, 'Bring hope to humanity'?"

Shadow looked around, and then shook his head, but smiled. "Everyone around me wants to be a hero. All right… but who are we supposed to fight for? You said all the groups just want the planet for themselves…"

"I think our best choice of action is to get all the leaders together to talk it over, by force if necessary, which it probably will be. They could all be united by their plans of independence and their hate for the marshals." said Bingo. "And, if my guesses are correct, someone probably already found Maria and has her capsule in storage somewhere."

"Then we'd better start looking!" said Sonic.

"Good idea," said Sabre, "But we've got a lot of ground to cover. I suggest we split up, stick with who you fight best with. I'm with Wildkid and Teepo."

Sabre's friends ran over to him. "All right then," said Sonic, "Tails and Knuckles are with me."

"I'm going with Cream." said Amy.

"I'll stick with Shadow." said Rouge.

"All right…" said Bingo. "Four teams of three. I'll go with Shadow and Rouge, I owe it to him- if that's all right with you?"

"Fine." said Shadow.

But then Sonic looked at Amy. "But Amy… she only has Cream, and no offence but Cheese hardly counts. Big isn't here…"

Cream and Cheese looked at each other while Amy said "We can handle anything by ourselves!"

"I don't think we could have fit the cat in the ship if we tried." said Sabre.

"This is hostile territory, I'm not about to let two young females go around unguarded, even if they're with Sonic… I know!" said Bingo.

The agent pulled out his communicator and patched in his mission partner.

A few minutes later, the crew were requisitioning transport.

Now, Mars just isn't compatible with your conventional Earth vehicles- cars, all-terrain vehicles, and aircraft and such- due to many factors, including the dangerous weather, uneven ground, different gravity and atmosphere and such. But colonists need transport more than anyone. To solve this, special vehicle types were designed and built that would move far more easily around the planet- first on Earth and airdropped near the colonies, then later constructed on Mars itself. The Martian vehicles are roughly based on recognisable Earth designs, but with different materials and builds many vehicles have a tough, outlandish look that Martians just love. All are usually grey or white- paint is worn off overnight by the harsh conditions.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were content to run to wherever they would go- no vehicle yet made could overtake them, on any surface. Most of the others were not as gifted, and commandeered various vehicles from the dome garage.

Sabre's eyes lit up when he saw the large Mars ATV that looked unlike any vehicle known. Made of mostly a large, curved rollbar, six large wheels and an open cockpit with space for one pilot and two passengers, it perfectly suited his needs. Sabre leapt in and gunned the engine, his buddies jumping in the back seat, and did a 'Martian Wheelie' lifting the front wheels off the ground as he roared off.

Shadow was designed partly for space exploration, and had no problem navigating through the rocky desert, but his companions were another story. Rouge was unable to fly due to the Mars suit she was wearing- although it was custom made and state-of-the-art, most suits were suited mostly for humanoids without additional powers. Bingo solved this by hotwiring a Martian three-wheeler motorcycle, and Rouge hopped on the back and held on for dear life as Bingo roared off after the dark hedgehog disappearing over the horizon.

That left Amy, Cream and Cheese- and their new companion. Bingo had called in his mission partner, a young female rookie by the codename of Scratch. "Well all right you two- uh, three." said the female agent. "We'd better get some transport of our own."

"All right!" said Amy, taking command of the situation. "We'll take…" Amy pointed over the several remaining vehicles. "That one!"

Amy's finger had landed on a heavy enclosed rover resembling a small tank, or the experimental Batmobile. "Uh… looks like a good choice." said Scratch, running after the others over to the rover. They managed to damage several other vehicles while trying to figure out the controls to get out of the garage.

"Isn't this stealing?" asked Cream as they drove off.

"After what they put us through, I think those creeps owe us this ride!" said Amy.

"Most vehicles on Mars are classified as public property anyway." said Scratch, clearing up the matter.

Team Sonic bolted across the landscape of Mars, leaving a trail of dust in their wake. This was their element- an open plain, a crazy landscape, a quest to follow and a damsel in distress to save. Their Mars suits, acquired by Sabre by means they cared not to know, were very ergonomic and allowed them to use most of their latent abilities unimpeded. The lower gravity and different atmosphere also allowed the team to do things they wouldn't normally have dreamed they could do- super-high speeds, literally gravity-defying aerial tricks and pulling suicidal moves on the mountains, rock formations, valleys and canyons that make Devil's Canyon look like a sandpit. Sabre had briefed them on the basics of Mars travel- they had three day's worth of oxygen, refillable usually for free at any colony, watch for the weather- if they feel so much as a gust of wind, get the hell to shelter- and stay relatively close to an oxygenated settlement. The rule of 3s applied double on this planet- 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water or 3 weeks without food means death. That just added to the risk, and the risk just added to the fun.

They were so absorbed in the thrill that they did not notice the hover-probe chasing after them, tracking their movements.

A similar probe had locked on to Amy and the other girls in their rover, though not the other two teams. Ironically, they had chosen the two teams who were not heading anywhere in particular, just following the winds or 'women's intuition'. The crews navigated by Sabre and Bingo, on the other hand, had access to maps and knew where they were going, which happened to be the same place.

The large colony of Carabineer Hills, headquarters to the Sons of the Dust.

_Ah, I just gotta luuurve those Mars wheels. Anyone with an artist's impression of the various vehicles, feel free to draw them and email 'em to me!_

_Like my fanchars? Sabre is, of course, my own avatar who weaves in and out of various stories, but Bingo is another matter…I gotta write more fics about this intriguing secret agent. Let me just tell you one thing- if you hadn't figured it out, Bingo and his team members are all named after gambling games, and have signature logos and combat styles to match. Scratch of course means Scratchies (or Scratchers as you call them in America) for one. I actually got the inspiration for Agent Bingo when I was playing Bingo Highway in Sonic Heroes! Want to know other character names? Think casino._

_Hah, Word's asking me if I want to display a map to Bingo Highway. There it goes again! The world's gone nuts, and other worlds will soon follow. R&R, people!_


	5. Foxy Lady

_Don't own Sonic or related characters; everything else is mine. Except for Wildkid and Teepo, property of their namesakes. Now read._

The six warriors stood as the hatch opened to the Carabineer Hill base. Three humans, a hedgehog, a bat and a hedgebat (oddly enough) stepped into the entrance hall, challenged by no one but attracting a few suspicious looks. They walked up to a guide map to the base.

"I'll head for the inquiries office." said Bingo. "Anyone want to come with me?"

"I'll come." volunteered Rouge.

"Hey Wildkid, let's head for the science bay," said Teepo. "They might have some clues on where to look."

"All right, I'll meet you there if I need you." said Bingo. "Sabre, Shadow?"

"I'll try and pick up some leads…" said Sabre. "See you in the bar! Hey Shadow, wanna come?"

"Uh…" Shadow thought. "Alright-"

"Great!" said Sabre, as he grabbed the black hedgehog and zipped off to the nearest bar, also indicated on the map.

"Leads won't be the only thing he'll be trying to pick up…" said Bingo.

Rouge giggled. "I've heard…"

The other four then went to their separate destinations.

Sabre and Shadow surveyed the assortment of soldiers, thugs, workers and the rest of the assortment of tough, suspicious-looking characters filling the bar.

"A lead…" said Shadow to himself. "Who would have any idea where Maria is…?"

Shadow stepped through the bar, getting quite a few glances from various people. He looked one guy in the eye, and he proceeded to hastily excuse himself to the toilets and locked the door. One thing Shadow can do is look dangerous, believe it or not. Sabre noticed.

"Jeez Shad, you're seriously getting uptight over this…"

"I'm not wasting any time finding my sister." answered Shadow. "I don't know why you thought we could get any information here."

"You need to calm down pal, need to relax…" Sabre then got a twinkle in his eye. "Gimme a sec…"

Sabre surveyed the bar himself, but looking specifically for members of the fairer sex. From being in the military once and most of his young adult life as a wandering warrior, Sabre knew his bars and what there was to do in them. He looked over several attractive females before settling on one.

"Hey dark dude, you see that girl over there…" Sabre pointed.

"Where?" said Shadow.

Then the hedgehog spotted the girl. A sassy young fox with blue fur sat alone near the bar, fingering a light drink. Sabre smiled.

"I think you ought to go talk to her… you never know, she might have information worth hearing…"

Shadow turned to ask, but Sabre was gone. The hedgehog looked around and saw him chatting up a young blonde human girl, who seemed already entranced by whatever the enigmatic warrior was telling her. Shadow shook his head, and then decided to go and talk to the fox anyway.

She was pretty hot, after all.

She noticed Shadow as he walked over to her. "And who would you be?" she asked. "You don't look like you're from around here… Earth?"

"Arrived not long ago." said Shadow. "I'm on a mission. The name's Shadow."

"I see. I'm Sapphire."

Sonic and his pals rocketed over the red dusty desert of Mars.

"Hey, wait up!" said Knuckles, rushing across the rough terrain like a freight train.

"Whee! Ha ha ha!" said Tails, as the lightweight fox leaped long distances with ease, well compensating for his inability to fly in this atmosphere.

"All riiiiiight!" yelled Sonic as he pushed himself faster than ever before, unimpeded by the air pressure and gravity of Earth. The only time he could remember being able to go this fast was in space…

A teenage boy and his sister were boosting across the outskirts of the mining base they called home on hover-cycles when Sonic, Tails and Knuckles rushed past them, calling out greetings. The boy looked dismayed, while his sister waved back. Then they caught up as Sonic stopped and called on his general frequency radio.

"Hey, we're looking for a little girl! Around nine or ten, blonde hair, frozen in a cryo-capsule somewhere on this planet!"

The boy and girl stopped, and looked at each other. They exchanged a few words on a private frequency, and then spoke to the three.

"We might have heard of what you're looking for." said the boy.

"Wow, are you really Sonic!" asked the girl excitedly.

"Yep!" said the blue hedgehog. "And this is-"

"Tails and Knuckles, I know, I've read all about you!" said the girl.

Her brother shook his head. "Sorry about my sister. If you want to know about the capsule, you'd better come and talk to out parents. Uh- you don't have any weapons do you?"

"Of course not!" said Sonic. "Why would we need weapons?"

"You obviously haven't been on Mars very long, have you?" said the boy.

"Come and meet mum and dad!" said the girl. "They can tell you everything! I'm Jessica, by the way!"

"And I'm Tom. Come on, let's go."

_Short and sweet, I just gotta get this up. The only way a Sonic fanfic can survive here is frequent updates, and REVIEWS! Please, don't be shy, make them as long and detailed as you want, and someone to beta for me wouldn't be minded. Also, check my profile for my other fic, Sonic Forever- also a sci-fi Sonic story you lot might just like. Peace out!_


	6. Man, she's moody

_Sonic ain't mine, Teepo and Wildkid ain't mine; everything else is, so paws off. Sorry if Sapphire's name was already used by someone. Oh, Evil Knievel or whatever isn't mine either._

While Teepo was trying to get information out of a few scientists, Wildkid took a sip from his flask. Now, Wildkid had been getting in brawls long before he met Sabre during a hockey riot, and both of them knew; Wildkid never won a fight while sober. And Wildkid won a lot of fights. His drinking cycle began whenever he sensed danger on the horizon, such that his allies could get a reliable advance warning of a fight when Wildkid started drinking the high-strength liquor in his flask (which varied from tequila to vodka to rum; the important thing was that it got him drunk fast). Unfortunately, Teepo wasn't paying attention, but talking to some scientists while soldiers all over the base received new orders.

Sabre had the blonde whose name he hadn't caught yet right in the palm of his hand when he noticed some of the armoured guards by the door pointing towards him and Shadow. "'Scuse me a moment." he said to the girl as he zipped over to the other side of the bar, rapidly muttering every swear word he knew. "Shadow! We gotta get outta here!" he said to the black hedgehog.

"Do you mind?" said Sapphire indignantly.

"Easy, he's a friend." Shadow said calmly. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, dammit," said Sabre, "But those guards are coming after us, I think Bingo Rouge screwed something up…"

Meanwhile, guards were getting closer. Then Shadow got up, and summoned something out of nowhere using Chaos Control. Sapphire recognised what Shadow was now holding. "Is that… a Chaos Emerald? From Earth?" she asked.

"Yes, I always keep one with me." said Shadow, raising the grey emerald. Sabre's hands inched nearer to his holster. "It seems like a good idea to leave, sorry Sapphire but-"

The fox stood up. "I'm coming with you." she said, in a tone immediately showing she would not be swayed.

"Alright then," said Sabre, increasingly panicky, "But hurry…"

The guards had reached their table by now. "Hey, you two, the boss wants to see-"

"Tell him we're sorry but we couldn't quite make it, got a couple of hot dates." said Sabre- then he delivered a kick to the head that knocked the left guard over, and an instant later a similar kick from Shadow took down the other. The three bolted out the door and into a hallway- where they faced a wall of guards. Sabre grabbed his pistol-

"No need." said Shadow, grabbing both of them. "Chaos Control!"

Dragging his surprised new allies with him, Shadow Chaos Dashed through the guards, sending them flying like bowling pins. They went into the entrance hatch, where Sapphire shut the door and Sabre struggled to put on his Mars suit, then realising "We don't have the time-"

"Chaos Control!"

In another display of considerable ingenuity, Shadow teleported his, Sabre's and Sapphire's Mars suits onto their bodies. Without missing a beat, Sabre busted the door to the wild red open. They ran out into the garage, and saw several guards heading for hover-cycles. "Oh sh-" started Sabre.

"Take my bike!" said Sapphire, pointing to a red, souped-up looking two-wheeled cycle resting by a pillar. "Shadow, how far can you dash like that?" she asked.

"As far as I need to." said Shadow, grabbing Sapphire in one hand and the Emerald in the other.

"You guys bolt! I'll lead 'em off!" said Sabre, who had hotwired, started and revved off in the bike, two hover-cycles on his heels.

Shadow shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!" and he and Sapphire simply disappeared.

Sabre grinned as he rocketed across the Martian hills at breakneck speeds, enemies chasing him. "This is what it's all about…" he said to himself.

"Catch me if you can!" he yelled to his pursuers as he hit top gear and swerved into a rocky canyon. Barely dodging boulders and laser shots, Sabre shot up the other end of the canyon and flew into the air, Mars's low gravity allowing him to perform otherwise suicidal motocross stunts in mid-air, with the function of dodging several more shots. The bike's very heavy suspension barely prevented serious injury as it slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt and rocks, which the hover-cycles zoomed through a moment later- one rider ran out of luck as a rock hit the underside of his bike, causing him to crash spectacularly as his bike rolled completely out of control until it slammed into a pillar and exploded (fortunately for him it threw him off, and he survived with no permanent damage). The remaining hover-cyclist continued hounding Sabre as his borrowed (with permission, oddly enough) bike roared up a mountain.

"Evil Knievel's got nothin' on this!" said Sabre as he neared the summit. A split-second later the bike roared off the top of the crater of the extinct volcano, flying hundreds of metres into the air. While he landed safely _right on the other side _of the crater, the hover-cycle was not so lucky- out of it's hover-lift range, it flipped out of control, flung off its rider and smashed into the ground.

"WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! Yelled Sabre as he roared down the mountain unchallenged. He then adjusted his comm. frequency and called his friends. "Those goons on bikes are history, Shadow! Thanks for the wheels Sapphire, this thing is king of the dirt!"

"Thanks Sabre!" said Sapphire. "I modified it myself!"

"Cool! Hey, how do you know my name?"

"I told her." said Shadow, cutting in. "Once you get well away from there, stop, leave the bike and I'll pick you up. They can probably track us through satellites, but they can't track my teleportation… at least, as far as I know."

"Got it!" said Sabre, and roared off into the desert.

Shadow looked at Sapphire. "So…" he said. "Any idea where we should go?"

But Sapphire was looking distant, as if in deep thought. "Sapphire?" asked Shadow.

"That Sabre…" said the blue fox. "He's a natural master of all weapons that come into his hands, isn't he?"

"Yes…" replied Shadow. Sapphire looked different now, more solemn and mysterious. Shadow had no idea why…

"I finally may have found him…" said the mysterious fox. She met Shadow's eyes, and the hedgehog suddenly saw what had been hidden- years of experience and an understanding deeper than he knew. "Shadow, after we pick up Sabre, head five and a half miles to the north. I know exactly where we need to go, and I'll tell you once we get close."

"…All right." Shadow took her hand once more. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

_Hmm, this one went longer than expected… and took a hell of a lot longer to finish… I've been a bit busy, alright? But now I'm back in business!_

_It's been a while since I started this fic, and since then the characters have changed in my mind. Note that Sabre and the other OCs might be a bit unstable for a while, and I'm now also focusing on getting the personalities of the canon characters right. A bit hard, given that Sega never does…_

_Don't forget to review!_


	7. An old gambling buddy

_You know the drill, all familiar characters belong to Sega; all that aren't belong to me or someone else._

While Sonic, Shadow and Sapphire had gotten away, their friends weren't so lucky. Rouge, Bingo, Teepo and Wildkid were now in the hands of the Sons of the Dust.

Bingo was familiar with the interrogation routine. One by one, they had been taken from the holding cell into another room, and didn't come back. Bingo was sure the others were simply taken to different cells, he hoped so anyway…

The door opened to the cell, where Bingo was now alone. "Come." Said a guard, and Bingo followed him out into the hall. They walked down it for a while, and then the guard opened a door. "In here." He said, and Bingo went in. The door was closed behind him.

The room was small, with a square table with two seats on opposite sides. On one wall was a mirror; Bingo knew it was a two-way mirror, used by observers. Sitting on one seat was a stern-looking woman. "Sit down, Agent Bingo." She said.

Bingo did so. Pleased to see an ashtray on the table, he lit up a cigarette. The woman looked disapproving, but then went into questioning mode. "What are you doing on this base?" she asked.

Bingo puffed on his cigarette. "Now that," he said, "Is quite a story…"

A man watched from behind the two-way mirror and listened to the conversation on speakers. He had watched the previous three interrogations; the green hedgebat was too intoxicated to say anything understandable; the winged boy had refused to talk; and the bat lady had complained and threatened the interrogator until they gave up. But now the G.U.N. agent, this should be interesting…

It was, sort of. Bingo soon started describing G.U.N. as the most corrupt, arrogant, slow, stupid organisation ever to try and exert its authority where it was least needed, and generally vented his complaints over how he was treated and that every new weapon they tried to make backfired as a matter of course, and so on. The man behind the mirror chuckled. Bingo sure wasn't what he used to be.

The woman questioning Bingo was still stunned at the apparent complete lack of loyalty and respect Bingo had for his own agency, when the door opened and a man walked in.

"Hah! And they called me a traitor! Said the man.

Bingo stopped, and turned to face the man. He recognised him. "Roulette… I should have known I'd find a snake like you in a pit like this."

Far away, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles followed the two kids and their parents riding hover-cycles across the Martian hills. "Thanks for the lunch, and everything." Said Tails as they started up a hill.

"That's all right." Said the mother, Michelle. "You need the energy to run all the way there, after all!"

"So, how far to this base you were talking about?" asked Knuckles.

"You'll see it in just a second…" said the father, Stewart.

Then the group reached the top of the hill, and the installation they had talked about came into view- a huge factory, built into the side of a mountain.

"Whoa…" exclaimed Sonic. It was the one of the biggest buildings he had ever seen.

"That's the Tulka Support Station." Said Stewart. "Most of the oxygen used for two hundred clicks around comes from there, as well as other stuff. It's controlled by the Sons of the Dust now."

"Those guys are really mean!" said Jessica. "They barely give anyone enough supplies to survive, and try to make you join the army!"

"That's why I tried to talk you out of going there. It's not safe. Don't suppose anything I say can change your mind now?"

Sonic smiled. "No way! We've taken on way more dangerous stuff. Come on guys, let's go!"

The blue hedgehog bolted off towards the building, Tails and Knuckles scrambling after him, waving back at the family, who returned the wave.

"Goodbye!"

"Good luck!"

"You're welcome to come back if you make it out!"

"Be careful!"

"Not… one… word…"

Amy fumed while seated in the immobile vehicle- quite a feat when it was upside down. Cream was busy rubbing her head, and Scratch was trying to get the door open. Amy had somehow managed to flip the heavy cruiser over while they were moving.

"I didn't say anything…" said Scratch. "Hold on girls, I think I can get this open. Helmets!"

Scratch managed to pull the side door open, just as Cream and Amy managed to ensure their suits were sealed. Cream was blown a bit by the oxygen leaving the cabin, and jumped out behind Scratch, who surveyed their surroundings. "Come on Amy."

The indignant pink hedgehog finally unstrapped herself from the driver's seat, fell to the ceiling and crawled out of the overturned vehicle. Behind her helmet, Scratch looked grim. "I can't see anything for miles… I think we might be stuck."

"Hey, what's that?" said Cream, pointing to something making a dust cloud to the north-west.

A few minutes later, a large truck pulled up by the overturned cruiser, and four men armed with guns got out and looked the girls up and down. Amy was about to say something when Scratch motioned and said "I'll handle this."

Scratch walked up to the soldiers, hoping the plea to chivalry would work. "Oh thank goodness you're here! Our car broke down, and we thought we'd be stuck! Please, can you take us to the nearest base?"

While Amy scoffed slightly at the damsel-in-distress act, the lead soldier walked up to Scratch. "Sorry miss, but we've already got passengers." He walked closer. "Although, we might be able to work something out.

Scratch let the soldier get within a certain distance from her before she grabbed him and flipped him over to the ground. "So much for knights in shining armour."

The other soldiers raised their rifles and advanced, shouting "Freeze!". Scratch responded as standard in the G.U.N. manual- quickly moved out of the way of a gun, grabbed a soldier and held her combat knife to the neck of his suit. "Don't- even- try- anything." She said to the other soldiers- who had other problems. Amy had summoned her Piko Piko Hammer, and before a soldier could aim for her, flung it towards him with a mighty force. The hammer connected before the soldier could react and knocked him well and truly out.

The last soldier panicked, and sized up the small and unassuming Cream as a potential hostage. "Alright you, don't- wha?" Cheese had flown up right into his face. The next thing he knew, the soldier was lifted into the air by the tiny Chao and thrown to the ground with a mighty force by the Chao protecting its partner.

"Ooh… Sorry, sir." Said Cream. "Cheese, please don't be so mean."

Cheese appeared to raise an eyebrow to that comment. Amy and Scratch weren't listening, they were more occupied with the truck (the soldier Scratch had grabbed before was now lying on the ground, not moving), which had banging and shouting coming from the back. Amy looked at Scratch, and the apprentice agent walked over to the back doors of the truck and activated the energy field on her knife. She cut through the bolt holding the doors and they swung open.

"Finally!" said Rouge, jumping out of the back of the truck. "It's so dark in there, and I'm stuck with those- freaks!"

The winged boy who looked like a girl, Teepo, then stepped down from the back, followed by a staggering Wildkid falling out.

"Fancy meeting you here." Said Scratch.

"Huh? What happened to you guys?" asked Amy.

Rouge brushed dirt off her suit, and stood in a huff. "_These_ idiots got us captured by those awful so-called soldiers. They were taking us to a prison. A prison!"

"Aw, shaddup eh…" slurred the obviously drunk but still lucid Wildkid. "You 'n Bingo were the ones who had ter go shnoopin around and get der man on our tailsh…"

"He's got a point," said Teepo "But it doesn't matter, we're free now… Thanks."

"Wait, where's Shadow?" asked Amy.

"And Mister Sabre?" added Cream.

Scratch gasped. "And Bingo! Where is he?"

"I think Sabre and Shadow got away." Said Teepo. "But Bingo was captured with Rouge. We haven't seen him since the interrogation."

"These people on Mars are so rude!" said Rouge. "And I haven't seen a single decent gem since I got here…"

"We've got more important things to worry about than your stupid jewels!" said Amy angrily.

Rouge responded with equal rage "They are not stupid-"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Scratch. "Sorry, but we do have higher priorities. Any idea where the others are?"

"I lost Sabre's comlink signal a while ago," said Teepo, "But I think he was heading north."

"Then that's the way we're going!" said Scratch. "As you can see we had a little accident, but I'm sure these fine gentlemen-"she motioned to the soldiers on the ground- "Will be nice enough to let us use their truck." One soldier looked like he was getting up, but Scratch fired a pistol shot barely missing his head and he dropped. "Thank you so kindly."

The girls, the drunk guy and the guy who looked a lot like a girl climbed into the truck. "And this time, I'm driving!" said Scratch.

"Shut up…"

_Whew, 'bout time I finished this, I've got to do more progress faster, I've got other fics planned._

_And in the news, on the day this was finished, the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. I'll write a proper tribute when I think of something fitting, but for now, please spare a thought for him and his family. He died while doing his life's work, taking risks and living on the edge- I salute him. He was a true Australian._

_We'll catch up to Bingo next chapter, thicken Sabre and Shadow's involvement in the plot, and give Sonic and co some action scenes. Sounds good?_


End file.
